Panache Closes on Distillery Acquisition

Panache Beverage, Inc., producer of Wódka Vodka and Alibi American Whiskey, has closed on its acquisition of the Empire Winery and Distillery, officially changing the name to Panache Distillery.

The acquisition of the distillery enables Panache to vertically integrate its supply chain while opening up new business opportunities for the public company. Panache expects to move production of its top-selling national spirits brands Wódka Vodka and Alibi American Whiskey to the distillery in early 2014 while adding bulk spirits production and turnkey third-party contract distillation to its business offerings. A court ruling in July paved the way for Panache to pursue these businesses after a judge dismissed Florida Distillers' effort to enjoin Panache, which then led to an end of the litigation by stipulation of the parties, approved by an order of the court.

James Dale, CEO of Panache Beverage, Inc. explains, “Beyond the tremendous asset value of the acquisition, the new distillery creates opportunity for diversification that is monumental.”

The equipment at the distillery is presently capable of producing and bottling more than 650,000 9-liter cases of distilled spirits annually, improvements are already under way that will increase this annual capacity to more than 1.2M cases.

The Panache Distillery is located in New Port Richey, Florida, about 40 miles outside of Tampa. The six acre property has plenty of additional space for further expansion and zoning restrictions have recently been successfully removed with the cooperation of Pasco county paving the way for the future expansion of the business at the facility.